Pencil & Spoon - The best beer in the cupboard
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Itwas waiting for a special moment. A life moment. A time when I wanted tocelebrate. I’d already passed a few chances up and didn’t know when the nextone was coming. Could I wait another year? Two years? Will the beer wait for mebefore succumbing to the horrors of oxygen? That was the biggest fear: what ifI opened the bottle and it tasted shit. What a waste. What a disappointment. Ididn’t want the disappointment because this was the prize in the beercollection, something which excited me as much the day I bought it as it doestoday, the beer I’d been holding onto for the longest, waiting for that moment. But the moment wasn’tcoming or I kept passing it. And I had to open it. I had to know. I had to knowif I’d waited too long. I feared I had. Friends were coming over to drink beer.If it was brilliant then we’d share that moment; if not then we’d drink a lotmore and I’d try to quickly forget about it, wishing I’d done it sooner,learning the lesson...
Takingit from the box - disturbing its long, cold sleep - was exciting. I was goingto open Zephyr. The most beautiful bottle, the one I held in my head as thebest thing in my collection. Unwinding the cork cage was like fumbling the braof the girl I’ve always wanted to get into bed. And what would happen, whatwould I find, when I dropped what was in my hands?
It’sthe colour of blushing skin, a beautiful peach with rose tint. Pouring it feelsbad and brilliant. Could I have waited? Should I have done this a year ago? Twoyears? Did it peak fresh? It’s got lifeand foam for just a moment, then it drops to a fine lace. Cheers everyone. Theglasses slide around the table. It’s not just a beer now. It’s been with mesince the beginning of this. It’s always been at the back of the cupboard, thatflash of white and pink label and the memory of how it tasted the first time. It’smore than just a beer. First sniff: I expected the worst and it comes first – someoxidisation. But that’s fine, it’s ok, it’s expected, it’s old now. Then therest starts coming out: strawberries, vanilla, oak and the coconut I rememberso vividly from the first bottle, then a boozy background, the ghost-likespirit of the barrel it was in. Sips and sighs and wows and oh my gods. I lookup from my glass and everyone is doing the same as me: swirling, sniffing,chasing those elusive, incredible aromas, taking the biggest sips we dare so wecan drink it properly but not finish it too soon. Complex, insane, brilliant. Thosestrawberries promise sharpness but it’s not there. Instead it’s like under-ripefresh berries and strawberry chewy sweets, all so subtle, wonderful. Thebitterness is clawing to the inside of the bottle and going nowhere. The barrelis still there, still giving oak, nuts, sweetness and spirit. It’s dry, fruity,lively and so interesting in the best of ways. Amazing. It tastes better than Ihoped for. I was prepared for the worst. I was ready to take the hit, to sufferthe woes of the beer hoarded too long. A beer to share and talk about andinstantly fall in love with and have that bittersweet feeling that we’ll neverdrink it again. But now was the right time to open it. It’s hard to imagine itbeing better. I don’t need to imagine it being better. The last line I wrote inmy notebook says ‘Just about the best beer I’ve tasted.’ I’ve probablyunderstated that.
I also loved it the first time I drank it...
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